September 16, 2003
BBC Monitoring Service
BBC Monitoring

Tehran -- Informed Iranian sources told Al-Hayat on Wednesday [10 September] that Tehran had bought nuclear equipment, installations and technology from British companies. The sources did not reveal the names of these companies but pointed out that the purchase took place with the knowledge of British government.

This is the first revelation of British-Iranian cooperation in the nuclear field since the accusations, and US pressure, have always alluded to Russian-Iranian cooperation in building the Bushehr Nuclear Plant. The United States has also hinted at Pakistan's cooperation with Iran.

According to the information received by Al-Hayat, the nuclear cooperation between Iran and British companies comprised of building the Natanz and Arak plants which specialize in enriching uranium after Iran recently acquired this technology.

This information comes at a time when the escalation between Iran and the United States has expanded to include Tehran's relations with members of the European Union. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi strongly criticized western countries and accused them of "extremism and impudence" and trying to wreck the course of cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Kharrazi threatened to rethink the cooperation with the agency after it specified a time limit for Iran to reveal all aspects of its nuclear programme and sign a protocol to allow stricter international inspection of Iranian [nuclear] plants. This accompanied Tehran's decision to suspend talks with Europe regarding human rights which were scheduled for the end of September.

Source: Muhammad Nun -- Al-Hayat, London, in Arabic 11 Sep 03